Connectivity and Performance of Science-based Firms

This paper addresses whether or not there is a relationship between a young science-based firm’s patterns of connections and the associated resource flows, and its performance. Hypotheses derived from the literature are tested in relation to three performance indicators: inventiveness, innovativeness and employment. Analyzing a set of firms in Sweden, Ohio and Massachusetts, working with biocompatible materials and related products, the results indicate that firm performance is significantly influenced by the firms’ pattern of connectivity. In particular, technology-related connections proved important, where a high diversity in types of sources for technological input, a large number of technological relations and a high amount of technology transfer from the parent organization were related to better performance for this specific group of firms.